The head of the interior ministry who ate for free in a cafe has been convicted of taking bribes

Oleg Molchanov, former head of the line department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for transport in the city of Sochi, was sentenced to 3.5 years of the general regime for bribes he received in the form of free meals in the Brigantina cafe, as well as in the form of boat trips around the seaport.

The relevant decision was made by the Khostinsky District Court of Sochi, the joint press service of the courts of the Krasnodar Territory. In addition to imprisonment, the court decided to recover a fine of 1 million rubles from Molchanov. and a four-year ban on holding positions related to the performance of the function of a representative of the government.

Molchanov was convicted under two articles: abuse of office (part 1 of article 285 of the Criminal Code) and acceptance of a bribe (part 3 and part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code).

The prosecutor’s office argued that Molchanov, as the head of the line department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for transport in Sochi, for a long time ate free of charge at the Brigantina cafe or used a 50% discount there. In total, the prosecutor’s office estimated the services that Molchanov received at 1.5 million rubles.

The investigation also showed that Molchanov, through Andrei Ostrovsky, received bribes from companies organizing ship cruises in the Sochi seaport and used this service free of charge himself.

As a result, the former head of the Ministry of the Interior’s department was found guilty of two official abuses and four cases of accepting bribes. Molchanov refused to plead guilty.

The mediator of the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ostrowski, was sentenced by the court to 3 years and 3 months, suspended for intermediation in accepting bribes by a person taking advantage of his official position (Article of the Penal Code), as well as for conducting illegal business activity (Article 171 of the Penal Code). In addition, he was fined 300 thousand rubles.